Concrete plans for the gas price brake are now available.
They promise significant relief for many households, especially families.
The Federal Government would like to reduce the pressure on German households from the increased gas prices.
A commission of experts has now presented a concrete plan that includes both a one-time payment and a reduction in energy costs for the near future.
If this were finally initiated, it would, according to calculations by the comparison portal Verivox, reduce household gas costs by around 41 percent thanks to the gas price brake.
State pays gas bill for a month
The first part of the plan envisages that the energy suppliers refrain from collecting the down payment from natural gas customers and district heating users.
The federal government should bear the costs for this, and the suppliers should receive the sum by December 1st at the latest.
In this way, the high advance payments in the first months of 2023 should be dampened.
"The gas price brake can provide significant relief for households and dampen the heating cost explosion," says Verivox energy expert Thorsten Storck.
"Nevertheless, households are facing a very expensive winter, because most of the relief will not take effect until next March."
According to experts, the advantage of a one-off payment is that it brings immediate relief.
The disadvantage is that it offers no incentive for citizens to use energy sparingly.
Tenants do not have to do anything for the measure themselves, as the utility companies and property management companies handle the down payments.
Gas prices will come into effect in March 2023
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According to the comparison portal Verivox, gas prices are at historically high levels.
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The second part of the expert commission's plan provides for the gas price to be capped at a maximum of 12 cents per kilowatt hour for 80 percent of consumption from March 2023 to the end of April 2024.
However, the consumption of the previous year is used here.
For example, if this is 10,000 kilowatt hours, 8,000 of these are priced at 12 cents per kilowatt hour – anything that exceeds 80 percent of the previous year's volume is not capped.
From January 2023, a price cap of 7 cents on the purchase price will apply to large industrial customers.
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